Surgical screws are widely used in the field of surgery; the most common uses include plastic and reconstructive surgery, dentistry, and orthopaedic surgery.
The diameter of the heads of surgical screws vary but can be in the range of 0.8 mm to 3 mm and possibly upto 10 mm. Problems relating to storage and dispensing of surgical screws can arise due to this relatively small diameter.
A conventional container for the storage of surgical screws has a shell of plastic containing a series of elongated recesses into which screws may be placed. A lid can be hinged to the shell for covering the shell in a closed position. The lid is movable to an open position to allow access to the screw. While such a container provides for individual storage locations for each screw, once the lid is open screws can fall out of the container. As a consequence, the screws become contaminated and can no longer be used unless re-sterilised.